Bibliography
The English language bibliography available on the work of Gustaf Britsch, his antecedents, and intellectual companions is woefully thin. Art historians and educators were, as a consequence, unable to confirm Professor Henry Schaefer-Simmern’s claim that his work was built upon the foundations laid by Britsch.
The Unfolding of Artistic Activity: Its Basis, Processes, and Implications, Henry Schaefer-Simmern, University of California Press, 1948
On Judging Works of Visual Art, Conrad Fiedler (translated by Henry Schaefer-Simmern and Fulmer Moody with an introduction by Henry Schaefer-Simmern.), UC Press, Berkeley, 1949
A Neglected Theory of Art History, Wayne V. Anderson, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism Vol. 20, No. 4 (Summer 1962) pp. 389-404 (Available from www.jstor.org)
Consciousness of Artistic Form: A Comparison of the Visual Art of Contemporary Children, Adolescents, and Lay Adults with Historical Art, Folk Art, and Aboriginal Art, Henry Schaefer-Simmern and edited by Gertrude Schaefer-Simmern and Roy E. Abrahamson, EdD, The Gertrude Schaefer-Simmern Trust, 2003
Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye, Rudolf Arnheim, UC Press, Berkeley, 1954
Visual Thinking, Rudolf Arnheim, UC Press, Berkeley, 1969
Principles of Art History: The Problem of the Development of Style in Later Art, Heinrich Wölfflin (translated by M.D. Hottinger), Dover Publications, Inc., 1950
The German language bibliography, on the other hand, naturally contains a plethora of offerings on the subject. Due to their number, only those texts with a direct connection to the work of Gustaf Britsch have been listed. Some of the key texts listed below have been translated into the English language. They will appear as Kindle books in the not too distant future.
The Problem of Form in the Visual Arts (Das Problem der Form in der bildenden Kunst), Adolf von Hildebrand, Heitz und Muendel, Strassburg, 1905
The Elementary Laws of Visual Art: the Basis of a Practical Aesthetics (Elementargesetze der Bildenden Kunst: Grundlagen einer praktischen Aesthetik), Hans Cornelius, B.G. Teubner, Leipzig, 1921
The Theory of Visual Art (Theorie de Bildenden Kunst) Gustaf Britsch (published by Egon Kornmann), Aloys Henn Verlag, Ratingen, 1966 (Translated by Bruce E. Shult. Coming out as a Kindle book.)
The Basic Principles of Visual Art (Grundprinzipien Bildnerischer Kunst), Egon Kornmann, A. Henn Verlag, Ratingen, 1962 (Translated by Bruce E Shult. Coming out as a Kindle book.)
Forschung und Lehre (Research and Teaching), Hans Herrmann, Gestlt-Archiv Hans Herrmann e.V., Schondorf am Ammersee, 1999
New Drawing for Elementary School Children (Neues Zeichnen im Volksschulalter), Hans Herrmann and Georg Meiss, A. Henn Verlag, Ratingen, 1963
Drawing as the Common Thread in Child Appropriate Instruction in the Elementary School (Zeichnen als roter Faden im kindgemässen Unterricht der Grundschule), Eleonore Weindl, Gestalt-Archiv Hans Herrmann e.V., Schondorf am Ammersee, 2003
This section of the bibliography is reserved for the work of Gerhard Gollwitzer (1906-1973), who, after receiving his Abitur, studied for five years at the institute for visual art in Starnberg founded by Gustaf Britsch and operated by Egon Kornmann before continuing his studies at the Academy of Art in Munich.
He is known for his work at the boarding school in Schondorf am Ammersee and later in Stuttgart. Gollwitzer provides an interpretation of the Britsch approach to visual art directed toward more mature students. His work has been translated into English.
Drawing Step-by –Step (Zeichenschule), Gerhard Gollwitzer, Sterling Books, 2002 (Note: The English language title of the book is aimed at the American audience. The German language title is a bit more exact: A Drawing school for gifted people.)
Abstract Art, how to draw and understand it (Schule des Sehens), Gerhard Gollwitzer, Sterling Books, 1962 (Note: The same as above. The German language title translates to: A School for Seeing: simple exercises to understand color and form.) Art as Symbol (Die Kunst als Zeichen), Gerhard Gollwitzer, Chr. Kaiser Verlag, Munich, 1963